Don't Hate the Cyclists

My awesome new roommate, Dan, invited me to go on an art gallery bike ride this past weekend. It seemed like a great opportunity to get to know the area, see some cool art, and get some exercise. I wasn't sure how I'd do, considering I can't remember the last time (if ever) I rode fifteen miles, but Dan assured me that since it's a large pack, we move fairly slowly and make frequent stops, in addition to having riders of various skill levels. Indeed, the cyclists were a diverse crew in age, race, gender, and sexuality. Some had fancy, professional bikes, while others had bikes that looked like they were just salvaged from a dumpster.

The night reminded me of my days at Pitzer since it combined two scenes popular at college: a large biking community and art show hopping in the pursuit of culture and booze. Unlike the questionable student art at Pitzer, however, these galleries were phenomenal. One had functional furniture made out of recycled materials like buttons, bottle tabs, jigsaw puzzle pieces, and Scrabble boards. Another had pinball art, including an installation of a dozen classic pinball machines that you could play for free. A third gallery had paintings that I laughed out loud at, historical pieces

Along the way, we ate dinner and drank for free, which is a plus. At one point, I hadn't finished my hotdog as the group took off, so I rode uphill for a couple miles with one hand cradling my hotdog. I made that pretty difficult on myself. At the next gallery, I was taken in by the installation piece made to look like a hair salon. Only after a few minutes did I realize I was in a space that doubled as a gallery and salon, so the reason that it looked like so much like an authentic salon was because it really was one. Whoops! At least I wasn't the only one to go up close to the chairs and study the products as if they were exhilarating pieces of art. Maybe this just goes to show that art is partially bogus, but I enjoyed it anyway.

The downside of the night was that many motorists hate cyclists. There is no "share the road" mentality. Drivers honked, heckled, and intimidated. I understand that its' a mild inconvenience for cars to have to slow down and cautiously pass (if they even do that - the most annoyed seem to be the people who zoom by even closer and faster than appropriate as if to say "fuck you" if they aren't already doing so verbally), but to be that irate over people who are engaging in a healthy, environmentally-friendly activity is unwarranted. Your minds are as polluted as our air, assholes.

Before going on the trip, my roommate told me that there is always someone who drinks too much, falls, and eats pavement. That part didn't make me nervous, but the cars did, in spite of my lights and helmet. At one stoplight, the cars had stopped longer than necessary to let all of the bikes pass by. One car finally got impatient, however, and move forward to go through the herd, just as I was going by while making a wide left turn. The car's sudden movement terrified me and I tried to swerve and stop simultaneously, which resulted in me going down hard. I was scraped up and embarrassed, mostly because in a sea of 100 cyclists, I was the only one who had fallen all night. Fortunately, at that stage we were super close to my house, so I just pulled off early and tended to my wounds and bike.

I wish I had finished the ride, but I'm excited to play again, hopefully with a bit more balance and a bit less nerves, next month. If it still happens, apparently the same weekend, a cyclist was shot in the same area during a group ride. Why such animosity for the cyclists?